The Douglas County Dental Clinic takes dental services directly to kids in need in more than 50 schools in seven Kansas counties, according to a news release from the organization. That number will likely increase this year.

Douglas County Dental Clinic Executive Director Julie Branstrom, left, and Shannon VanLandingham, of Lawrence, stand next to the clinic’s new Friendly Smiles Dental Outreach Program van in August of 2018. A foundation in the name of VanLandingham’s daughter — #BeMoreLikeClaire Fund — provided the grant that made the van possible.

​A van wrapped in the clinic’s logo transports a mobile team of dental hygienists, dental assistants and a dentist straight to underserved kids. Through a grant from the #BeMoreLikeClaire Fund of the Douglas County Community Foundation, the Friendly Smiles Dental Outreach Program was able to purchase a second van.

​The new foundation was launched to carry on the legacy of Lt. Dr. Claire VanLandingham, a Navy dentist who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, who then took his own life, on Jan. 3.

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“Claire believed that quality health and dental care should be available to all,” her mother Shannon VanLandingham, of Lawrence, said in a news release. “Granting funds to purchase the Friendly Smiles van is the perfect way to kick off this new project and to carry on Claire’s legacy.”

Lt. Dr. Claire Elizabeth VanLandingham

Julie Branstrom, executive director of DCDC, said in the news release that some of the kids the program serves have gone without dental care for years. Taking care straight to the kids at school eliminates the hassle of parents missing work and kids missing so much class time for appointments.​“Some of them have been suffering with dental pain which has caused them​to have difficulty eating, concentrating in school and has even made someself-conscious of their smile,” Branstrom said in the release.Ask your child’s school nurse, call DCDC at 785-312-7770 ext. 206 or email outreach@dcdclinic.org to find out about availability of services. For more information about Claire and the new fund in her memory, visit bemorelikeclaire.org.